Bodens BK bolster their squad with more AX talent

Posted on February 8, 2014

AX is proud to announce a double swoop of Bodens BK for striker Andy Lorei and defender Gino Mauro. The duo impressed on AX’s showcase tour in north Sweden, taking in games against Bodens, IFK Lulea and the Finnish First Division’s Kemi Kings in five days at IFK Lulea’s training complex.

Both Lorei and Mauro were invited to represent Bodens against AX in the first game of the tour for a closer look.

Lorei hails from Erie, Pennsylvania and graduated from Cathedral Prepatory School in 2007, and followed this up with stints playing for Gannon University, the NASL side Queen City FC which is now defunct, and then the Rochester Rhinos of the United Soccer Leagues. A career-threatening knee injury slowed Lorei’s trajectory in soccer, but stints at the Real Maryland Monarchs, Michigan Bucks and Minnesota Stars since led him to try his luck for a professional deal in Europe.

Gino Mauro is a former Canadian youth international and played every game for the under-20 side at the 2009 Jeux de la Francophonie in Lebanon. The Toronto native was last representing Minnesota United of the North American Soccer League before he participated in the AX showcase tour.

Standing at 6’3”, Andy Lorei proved to be a menace for the AX showcase squad’s defence, having a hand in the first goal and scoring a second in the 2-1 victory. Gino Mauro also proved pivotal in the creation of the first goal, not unknown to join in the odd attack like his hero Gerard Pique, and left the game in the second half having not conceded a goal and cutting a composed figure at the back.

After impressive performances by Andy Lorei and Gino Mauro, Bodens BK technical director Christian Samuelsson made them the third and fourth players to benefit from AX’s soccer tours and sign professional terms with the Swedish Second Division outfit.

They follow in the wake of Matt Sanner, whose arrival after AX’s 2013 New York combine sparked a run of ten unbeaten games for the north Sweden outfit and he has since moved onto pastures new. Midfielder Eddy Prugh is still with the club, after impressing Samuelsson during three combines over 2013, and the three AX representatives will look to hit the ground running in Bodens BK’s push for promotion to Division One in 2014.

AX Soccer Tours will be hosting more Showcases this summer 2014 in Sweden and Finland in order to help more players get exposure in front of European professional clubs and sign contracts. Interested players are required to attend a Pro Soccer Combine in order to be selected for our summer showcases.